Gathering, Cleaning and Storing Pine Needles
Today is part of a series on gathering plants and herbs to use in your practice. There are many plants and herbs in the wild that can be harvested to add in your rituals, be used as offerings, make crafts, and even be used as incense. Though without proper knowledge some plants can be dangerous, and poisonous. So I thought I’d start with a plant common enough and easy enough to find. Pine. Pine is a type of Fir tree that grows all over the world from the west to the east coast of the United States, to as far as Greece where the forests there are primarily made up of Fir trees. There are many different kinds of Fir trees such as Pine, Spruce, and Evergreen, each having even more branches into different types among them.
Today we will be looking at a long needle Fir native to my area in New Hampshire, since the pinecones are all gone it is hard to say if they are Eastern White Pine, or Pitch Pine. Both species are Least concerned and are in abundance. This is very important when you are gathering wild plants and herbs, when there are such a wide variety of species make sure you pick the ones that are in high abundance so the other more endangered plants have a chances to grow and survive. My area was covered in these long needle pine trees, and i was careful with who i took bundles from, leave the small baby plants to nature so they can grow big and strong, cutting from them could cause problems for the tree as it is just a sapling and personally I see it as a sign of respect to leave the young trees be.
Once you find your tree, give an offering and say thank you, spit as harsh as that sounds works great, it is from our body, and it is a type of life essence. If this makes you uncomfortable or worried bringing a bottle of water and giving some to the tree is another great offering. I cut the small little twigs that are about 2 to 3 inches or less in length off the major branch, this main branch is an important part of the tree and we do not wish to damage it, make sure to cut as smoothly and as clean as you can, the cut is less harsh than just ripping branches and is much more of a delicate and respectful approach in my opinion. Now would be the time if you wished to gather any sap from the tree, look out for branches that are broken from a recent storm, from this you can gather the sap that drips down, but make sure not to disturb the wound. We want to keep the tree healthy. Another way is to look for sap naturally dripping down the tree, this is better because it can be gathered without the worry of disturbing any wounds. Animals are also known to use sap around their nests in the trees, you can use this to gather some, but make sure you leave some for the animals so they remain protected from predators.
Once you gathered all the pine you seek, I gathered three small Tupperware's full today on my walk, taking a small amount from different trees as I went so the trees were not disturbed too much. Get a paper towel, piece of paper, or a towel you don't mind getting dirty and lay that down on your work space. Opening what you used to transport what you gathered pulls out your pine branches and begins to pull the needles from the branches and lay them on your work space. Do this until all the branches are clean.
Now you have a small pile of needles clustered together, and you will want a container or if you are okay with it your sink. Fill your sink or bowl with warm water and add a gentle soap, you can also add essential oils, or perform a ritual as you do this, this will help break down the sap on the needles and make it easier for them to be handled. Soak them for 5 minutes, stirring them occasionally.
Once the 5 minutes are up line a cutting board, baking sheet, or flat surface with a towel or paper towels and take a bit at a time, (It’s okay if they stay in the water longer) and lay them on your drying tool to pat them dry gently, they should dry fairly easily and now comes the long and hard part of this journey. Once you have pat dry a pile of needles go through them and pull off the buds on the end, freeing the needles so instead of being grouped together (this is my case, if you are using another type of pine this might not be necessary) and put them in the jar you wish to keep them in, or place them on a lined sheet. DO NOT throw these heads in the trash, throw them outside, or you can do what i did and place them in a jar of their own, they are small enough so you can burn them as offerings or use them in a spell.
If you wish for your needles to turn brown as they dry, place them in the sun to dry out, this will turn them brown, make sure to turn them so the color forms evenly. If you wish for your needles to remain green place them in your jar and store them in a shady place to dry.
After all this work you can finally enjoy your pine needles, I found gathering these needles very calming and i felt connected to nature. It felt like I was connecting back to Yggdrasil and the Earth, it was a truly wonderful experience. I will be including pictures so you can see what these needles look like, and the ends i am referring too. I also will be including the magical properties of pine below to aid you in finding what you can use pine for in your work.
Magical Properties: Healing, Protection, Fertility, Prosperity, Cleansing, Luck, Joy, Balance, Purification, Banishment, Longevity, Happiness, Smudge with pine during time of loss to lift spirits, Reverse curse spells.
Deities:
Fenrir: This is a choice that i have seen in a few pieces of research but is partly UPG. Pine is associated with Fenrir because of the forest and the woods a wolf calls home, in my opinion where Fenrir should be, his home, in the forest whether that is a normal forest or the Ironwoods this is his home and the scent could aid in communicating with him, making him feel at home.
Good Dwarves: The Master Smiths.
Hermod of the Aesir: The Brave One. Son of Odin.
Hoenir: The messenger of the Aesir. The Silent One.
Light Elves: The Hidden People.
Odin (German Wotan), of the Aesir
Tyr (German Tiw), of the Aesir: Odin’s son, Tyr is the God of Law & Justice, Rational Thought and Right Order, Protection, Divination, Astronomy, Strength and Courage
Ullr of the Aesir: the Bow God, God of the Hunt.
